Tag Archives: Sighisoara

“It was just a little past midnight when our airplane landed in Transylvania and our taxi made its way to our Inn at the heart of Cluj Napoca. It was, alas, not a particularly dark or particularly stormy night, and the locals in the Inn did not stare it me strangely, did not offer me crucifix or garlic necklaces, but otherwise, this was the fantasy of a boy who grew up reading Famous Monsters of Filmland and reading about the “Historic Dracula” come true.”

Read more about Henry and Henry’s amazing adventure in Transylvania here:

Watch it from a distance, maybe from the surrounding hills … According to a romantic German tourist guide you will see a medieval dollhouse (eine mittelalterliche Puppenstube) on a small hill in the middle of the town. Now come closer…

Every year fans of medieval spirit and fun come to Sighisoara to climb the hill and be part of a three- days festival of medieval art.

While at home this summer I wrote a mini-series on Romania, born out of the question that bugged me during a trip through Northern Europe: “how does what I saw there compare to what we have at home?”

In short, if you look at size, architecture, importance in European history, it doesn’t. We don’t have anything like the urban architecture of the city of Tallinn, for example. Or, to be precise, nothing at that scale.

So then, why would anyone want to go to Romania? I asked myself, if I was a foreigner, would I?

Well, yes. Because the “apples with apples” comparison is not the only one you can make. You don’t go to Romania if you want to find something better than in other places, but to find something different. What makes powerful impressions is not he size (except the Parliament Palace and a few other things) or the quality, but the context. And the context, sometimes and for some people, makes all the difference.

So as a foreigner I would go to Romania to find a) places, people and buildings outstandingly surprising in a geopolitical context and b) the charm of the untouched, unknown, off-the-beaten-track discoveries, and that in the middle of Europe (at least geographically).

A walk through Sighişoara (See-guee-show-ah-rah) is like a journey back in time. Located in Southern Transylvania, the city was built by German colonists called “Sachsen” (Saxons), who settled beginning with the 12th century, invited by the Hungarian King to secure the borders of just conquered Transylvania. They came allegedly from the ares of today’s Rheinland-Luxemburg. They built a chain of well-organized villages and city-fortresses, 7 of them more important, giving the German name of Transylvania – Siebenbürgen, i.e. “7 castles / fortresses”. Sighişoara was one of them. Today it is apparently the only inhabited original medieval citadel in Central and Eastern Europe and one of the most beautiful towns in Romania. If you ask me, the most beautiful. The city was built on the top of a hill, surrounded by defense walls and towers. At the top, the most important buildings of a city – school and church. At the bottom, the city hall and houses.

Motto

In the bus, a man asked us where we are from. 'Germany', said my friend. "Germany? Aaa... eyn, tzway, dry, oufeederseyn!", said the man proudly. "And you?" "Romania." "Romania. Hm. Hmm..." and then suddenly smiling: "are you a vampire?"